I first learned about the ‘Amazing Slow Downer’ software here on Chiff & Fipple. I only just got it and it really is amazing compared to some of the other freebies. What is more amazing is how long it has taken me to get round to buying it. I play at a low intermediate level and need all the help I can get. Few things have been more helpful as listening to good players and now I can slow them down to a crawl when I need to. I imagine if I had obtained this software when I started out I would be playing twice as well as I am now!
Well, as long as I have the midis (or abcs, played by AbcNavigator), I don’t need to slow down any CD tracks. As for me, midi is better when you learn the tune, and when you’re done you can add speed and ornamentation to play with unslowed CD.
Glad that works for you. For me learning a basic new tune is generally a piece of cake but I often struggle to make sense of all the ornamentation and subtlties of of style on recordings of great players and this is where ASD helps me.
Thanks for sharing this software with us. Some people have that special musical talent where they can listen to a piece a few times and begin playing it. But the majority of us don’t have this talent. And it really helps when the piece is slowed down considerably and it’s easier to follow the notes. Also, I play with a tuner at times to make sure I’m in tune. This helps to develop my ear to what is flat and sharp.
No need for additional software if you use Windows - all you need to do is adjust the play speed in Windows Media Player (it does this without altering the pitch). Open the track in Media Player and go to the ‘Now Playing’ tab, On the ‘Enhancements’ menu choose ‘Play Sped Settings’. This should display a variable slider control that enables you to slow down or speed up (as far as half speed or double speed). I’m not sure what else your software does but this works for me.
If you want to permanently alter the speed of a recording and save it to your computer then you could do this in Audacity by selecting all and using the ‘Change Tempo’ edit. Actually this is probably more useful for transposing the pitch of old recordings that are not at 440Hz so you can play along with them (i.e. using the ‘Change Pitch’ edit).
Hope that helps.
PS. on the other point… if you’re learning by ear I’d be tempted to say never learn by listening to MIDI files. All of the phrasing and emphasis and ornamentation that forms the basis of the genre will be missing! Learn from recordings of good traditional players if you can.
I have used WMP but I have found the ASD is the bees knees. WMP does not slow tunes down enough and the quality of the sound is poor IMO.
I have never thought of using Audacity. Why didn’t you tell me before? 
I love the ASD. I also use Audacity, but I find it much harder to figure out and so only use it for recording.
awesome! I never realized windows media player did that. I have slowed tunes down in audacity before, but for quick and non-permanent changes using windows media seems to do the job (quality isn’t as good, but it works). thanks!
I can’t say enough good things about “Transcribe” by Seventh String Software. Its not free at about $50.00, but its an awesome product. I’ve been using it for many years as my primary method for learning tunes from recordings. Its available for Mac, Windows, and Linux.
It has many features that really make it simple to mark sections, replay and jump between sections, export slowed down tunes, time and pitch shift independently, EQ, microtuning, pretty much anything you’d want to do when learning a tune.
You can download a 30 day trial version off their site.
And yes, there are many other programs out there, some of them free, that can also do what you want. I just happen to really enjoy and heartily endorse Transcribe.
Cheers,
Michael
I use ASD all the time. It is invaluable for a learning tool, esp for those fast reels.
I went the MIDI route for some time. That’s great if you want to play like a robot.
WoW! I no have idea that exist this type of sofware, I only use a WM but is poorly. I finish dowloading it and this very good!
thanks!!
I use S8Tunes 2.7. It’s free and it has all the features you need, including a playlist and the possibility to define two points (A + B) in the mp3 file and play only from A to B, which helps to learn difficult passages.
I use cool-edit-pro. It’s not exactly free, but has an anormous amount of tools including pitch/speed change.
But I gotta warn, some of the embellishments that the master-players engage-in are not revealed by slowing down the recording. For that stuff you will need a live teacher.